there is comedy all the time in portland, oregon.

Tag Archives: Bridgetown

People! Can you believe it? The Bridgetown Comedy Festival is only one month away! It is well worth your time and resources to spend the week enjoying the awesomest comedy event in Portland that happens all year.

Bridgetown has grown bigger and more packed with talent with each passing year. In this, its sixth year, the line-up is spectacular, with big names like Dana Gould, Reggie Watts, and Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper. Beloved former Portland comedians like Dax Jordan, Richard Bain, and Virginia Jones will also be there, plus a host of startlingly talented folks from all over the country (I’m talking Todd Glass and Kurt Braunholer and Moshe Kasher, people. I’m talking Jake Weisman and Guy Braunum and Brandie Posey and Emily Heller. I’m talking KATE BERLANT here, people. I could go on but I won’t. It’s going to be fantastic.)

The festival is April 18 – 21 and will primarily be held on Hawthorne Boulevard. Weekend passes, priced at $79, are on sale now at http://www.bridgetowncomedy.com, with an additional $10 pre-sale discount available through March 27th.

Also! There is still time to volunteer! Bridgetown couldn’t happen without the amazing people who contribute their time and energy. Whether you want to sit at a table selling tickets or shirts, drive things and people around, or just lift heavy boxes for a while, the festival would love your help. You can volunteer a little or a lot, and your reward is free admission for a night or the whole weekend. Sign up now at http://submissions.bridgetowncomedy.com/apply-to-volunteer and you will hear back within a couple weeks about what your role will be. Comedy all the time, people! All! The! Time!

If you are even slightly aware of the comedy world in Portland, you are starting to get that tingly excited feeling in your gut that can only mean one thing: the Bridgetown Comedy Festival is fast approaching! We are three weeks away from opening night. To help fan the fires of excitement, we here at the PDX Comedy Blog are going to be highlighting some of our favorite comedians, both national and local, that are appearing this year.

So I’ll start with one of my favorites: PETE HOLMES! (pronounced ala STEVE HOLT from Arrested Development). Not only is he awesome, but today also happens to be his birthday!

Holmes is a fantastic stand-up comedian, weaving improv into his shockingly funny observations about life. His self-deprecation is utterly endearing and he’s smart. He’s got a half-hour Comedy Central Presents as well as killer appearances on Premium Blend, John Oliver’s show, Jimmy Fallon, and Conan. His cartoons have appeared in The New Yorker, which is ultra impressive because those people are frumpy but Pete Holmes seems like a generally positive dude.

Even though he has all those superprofessional sets online, this is my favorite Pete Holmes video. It is him at Bobby Tisdale and Eugene Mirman’s show Invite Them Up New York. I saw this a few months into doing stand-up and it completely blew my mind. He starts after something weird, digs himself an enormously awkward hole, and then uses it to great triumph. I’ve watched it an embarrassing number of times and it continues to make me laugh every time. Watch the second part after this one, it’s just as great. Ok, everybody, Pete Holmes!

The new podcast is up and running! Swing by and learn a thing or two about Bridgetown founder Andy Wood. We talk a bit of Bridgetown, but mostly nonsense with the funny, charming, and might I say well-to-do Mr. Wood. And stay tuned for next week, when we have all the finalists of the Portland Amateur Competition drop by for a post contest chat and/or thunderdome style battle! Thanks for listening!